October 24, 2014 - Mercer County Schools

ISSUE NO. 13
TITAN TIMES
MERCER COUNTY SENIOR HIGH/OCTOBER 24, 2014
Falling for Fall Break
by Gabe Tuggle
Junior
•••
Fall break- a time for students and teachers
to unwind and reflect on how the new school year is
going so far. Some students see it as a time to go on a
vacation, while others see it as a time to sleep in and
just be lazy. Some enjoy the change in weather while
others not so much. The students of Mercer County
all tend to enjoy their fall break for the most part.
Local sophomore Ruben Bacon said he used
his spare time to go “backpacking in Daniel Boone
National Forest.” Other students, such as, sophomore
John Perkins said “I went on that trip to Europe.” He
is referring to the Europe trip that was hosted by
teacher Mrs. Milburn.
It is apparent that all students use their time
off differently and like taking time to just think about
their life. When asked why he thought students
enjoyed fall break so much, freshman Justin Kimerly
said, “It’s a time that we don’t have to go to school
and we can just relax,” which is very true, at least
from the perspective of most students. Others see it
as a boring week of no school and nothing to do.
Kimerly said he used his spare time to “just play
football.”
All in all, fall break is beneficial to students
and teachers alike. Many use it as free time to catch
up on much needed sleep, while others enjoy
traveling and taking a vacation. A home away from
home.
Fall Senior Night
by Madeline Yankey
Junior
•••
On October 17th, 2014, all of the football,
marching band, cheerleading, and dance team seniors
got a chance to walk down the football field with
their families and friends. For some, this would be the
first and last time. Taylor Lawson, marching band
senior, said, “It was very scary but I still had tons of
fun.” Taylor plans to pursue a career in the medical
field, although she is undecided what exact route she
is going to take. Football seniors include Dakota Baldwin, Joey
De Giovanni, Malik Ford, Noah Vandivier, Layne
Peavler, Grant Willmott, Alli Long, Austin Sparrow,
Dylan French, Deron Bartleson, Mason Richardson,
Lorenzo Smith, Matthew Raskin, and Ashlin Kendrick.
The marching band seniors were Aalayah
Purnell, Anna Mollett, Kaleigh Davis, Kristian Crank,
Ashton Logue, Ashley Rice, Wyatt Harris, Lucas
Powell, Gillian Casey, Maggie Baker, Misty Carter,
Cassidy Bennett, Kayla Preston, Jacob & Sarah Mullins,
Ecasia Burrus, and Taylor Lawson.
The cheerleading seniors were Rysee Smith,
Kelsie Devine, and McKaylah Robinson. Dance team
seniors included Chloe Rogers, Lydia Brodeur, Kayla
Crawley, and Ebony Burrus. Although excited, many of
the seniors were overwhelmed and someone
overcome with a feeling of sadness when they got to
the arch at the end of the 50 yard line and were
recognized as members of the Class of 2015, knowing
that their senior seasons are coming to a close.
Future Business Leaders of America
by Gage Redimarker
Senior
•••
HOW IT PREPARED ME FOR MY
FUTURE
Since the sophomore year
of my high school career, the
largest student organization in
the nation, Future Business
Leaders of America, has instilled a
passion for competition and hard
work unlike anything that I have
ever experienced. My sincere and
truly passionate feelings towards
being a part of this student
organization was lead and
nourished by my own personal
desire to grow and expand into
greater and better things, but was
also influenced by a teacher
whom left us this year from the
vocational school, Mr. Damian
Laymon.
I know it’s hard to
imagine, but FBLA is by far the
largest student organization in
the nation, and much larger than
FFA throughout the country. In
our school, those roles are
reversed; FFA has a very large
size of students compared to
FBLA’s on average 20 students,
but the organization will always
continue to push and develop
student’s skills on several areas;
these include, but are not limited
to: public speaking, accounting
and business finance,
computational skills such as
website designing and graphic
design, but also includes the
scope of artistic creations, and
the simple fact is that FBLA is an
organization meant to cover a
vast horizon of technical and
useful skills, and help students
around the nation and world
develop those skills into a truly
useful and resume-worthy skillset. Not only was the
organization put in place to
improve student’s skills and
improve their life, but the
dedicated advisors from around
the country are what make the
organization truly what it is. Mr.
Laymon to me was not only my
teacher; he was an astounding
teacher to not only me, but all of
his students of the classes that he
taught; he was an advisor who
helped me refine and narrow my
skills down to what I was truly
gifted at; but most importantly, he
helped instill and create a
powerful and resilient work
ethic in not only me, but all of his
students, and one of the
focal points that I had
taken from my two
years of being a student
of his, is to put your head
down, do the work you
need to do, and then
have fun afterwards once
everything is taken care
of, but also to always live
in the moment and enjoy
what you have – and in my case, I
am now reflecting upon the work
ethic and the mindset that he
helped instill, and truly embracing
and understanding how much of
a help that really has been, and
there is nothing I would ever be
able to do to return the favor.
Yet, at the end of the day today, I
will be able to take a moment in
consideration, and understand
that I have honestly tried to
express my thanks towards him,
in the form of this article, and
when it all comes down to it, all
that matters will be how you see
yourself, if you’ve been honest
and true with everything you’ve
done, nobody will ever be able to
take that away from you and that
is a moment you will forever
cherish, like I have with the
memories I’ve gained, along with
the honor and privilege to be
mentored by such an influential
and remarkable teacher…
advisor… and most importantly,
a friend.
Record Making Man
by Kasey Halcomb
Senior
•••
Peyton Manning entered
Sunday night’s game just three
touchdowns shy of breaking
the record for all time
touchdowns that was held be
retired QB Brett Favre.
Demaryius Thomas got to
have the honors of catching
Manning’s record breaking
touchdown pass on 3rd and 1 and
just barely got his feet in bounds.
The pass made it a 21-3 lead
over the San Francisco 49ers. The
stadium roared and all of the
players cheered because they
knew that their quarterback had
just broken the record, now
leading the NFL with 509 career
touchdown passes.
The Broncos ended the game
beating the 49ers 42-17. Manning
said it was quite an honor to
have the record and Brett Favre
immediately took to twitter to
congratulate Manning on his
monumental achievement.
I interviewed Randy
Martin on his thoughts about
Manning breaking the record.
Randy said, “Manning deserves it.
He’s the best quarterback in the
NFL and he’s put in enough work
to have the record”. When asked
if he thought Manning would
keep on adding to the record, he
said, “Of course. It’s only half way
through the season and Peyton
Manning is no way near retiring”.
School Lunch’s New Look
by Emily Crace
Senior
•••
In the past, the consensus on school lunches hasn’t been the best. Now, the hard working
cafeteria staff are hoping for better results. With a whole new set up and menu, they are hoping to
offer more meal choices and sides to gain more student and staff customers.
In the new and improved cafeteria system, there are three meal stations. The Titan Deli, on
the left side of the kitchen, will hold a salad bar and sandwiches and wraps. The Titan Grill, in the
middle, will have grilled food items and regular staple-food sides. Then The Cafe, on the right, will
serve things like spaghetti and tacos.
Cafeteria staff member Pricilla Blake said she can already see positive results. “The students
really seem to like the new food. The only thing we need to work on is the set up of the line
system,” said Blake. “We have a whole new menu that will hopefully appeal to more students.” With
this new menu, the staff is doing a lot more cooking, rather than just preparation. Pricilla added, “I
want the students to try something new.You never know what you like until you try it!”
Haunted Welcomes
by Ashley Hall
DIAMOND POINT
Junior
•••
Harrodsburg has many places that
people think are haunted. One of these places
is Diamond Point: The Welcoming Center to
Harrodsburg. Diamond Point was built in
1840 as a home. Many of the current
employees believe that it is haunted. Julie
Wagner, the executive director, said, “I have
heard a typewriter when no one else was
there, horse whips, little girls laughing, and
sometimes I can smell burnt foods when I’m
the only one there.” Many of the other
employees claim to have encountered the
same things but at different times.
Kentucky Shadow Chasers, a paranormal
investigation group, came and did an overnight
reading. They captured an apparition and according
to the article on their findings, those are very hard
to catch on camera. The Chasers have been invited
to investigate two other buildings in Harrodsburg,
the oldest settlement west of the Alleghenies, and
the group already has looked into other buildings in
the county.
Top 5 Halloween Hotspots Near Harrodsburg
by Audrey Johnson
Junior
•••
• Devine’s Corn Maze in Salvisa. Admission is $5. Get lost in the maze but not too lost, and pick out a
pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, too.
•
Fright Night located in Lexington at Jacobson Park. The cost is $25 for the chance to explore three
different trials.
•
Terror on Tates Creek, also located in Lexington. Only $12 to go through the creepy crawly
haunted house.
•
Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville. The cost is only $20 for a night in an old tuberculosis
hospital.
•
Hustonville Haunted House which is located in Junction City. Admission is just $15 for this
exceptional house of horrors.
Ghastly Ghosts
by Lindsay Turner
Senior
•••
According to Mercer County High schools students, the
question “are ghosts real or not?” has a definitive answer. After asking
both seniors Winnie Cheng and McKaylah Robinson if they had ever had
any scary ghost encounters, both replied no. But according to
huffingtonpost.com, the article “Spooky Number of Americans Believe in
Ghosts” by Lee Spegeil states that nearly 45% of Americans believe in
ghosts, or that the spirits of dead people can come back in certain places
and situations. When asked if they believe in life after death, 64% replied
yes. While 59% of adults do not believe they’ve ever actually seen a
ghost, 43% also don’t think that ghosts or spirits can harm or interact
with living people.
What’s a catchy
headline for Ebola?
by Dylan French
Senior
•••
As you and everyone else in the world
know, there’s apparently an Ebola outbreak. What
do you know about ebola? If
you’re like majority of us, you
more than likely have no idea
what to think about the virus.
It seems people’s opinions on
the matter fall into one of two
categories; there are those
who don’t really see ebola as a
threat and ignore the media
hype, and then those who
believe ebola will wipe out the
human race.
Junior, Gabe Tuggle said, “The thought of
Ebola spreading throughout the United States
without the government doing something about
it is absurd.” Most people around here share the
same beliefs as Gabe. Most don’t really think that
a disease such as ebola could possibly take over
the United States. Ebola is real and it is
dangerous without a doubt, but to freak out and
to be constantly scared of catching it is simply a
waste of time. Ebola in the
United States is controlled.
Those believed to have the
deadly virus were immediately
quarantined until a 21 day
period was up. For now the
United States is safe from the
spread of ebola for the most
part.
From the Editor
by Emily Crace
Senior
•••
Thank you so much to our readers and
hardworking staff! Lots of hard work go into
every issue.
We are opening up an email account for
you, the readers, to send in story
suggestions and letters to the editor! Send
any ideas you have to
mercer.journalism@gmail.com!
Have a wonderful week at Mercer County
Senior High!
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